Questions remain about AFSCME deal

Matt Hopf and John Guidroz

Wednesday

Jan 27, 2010 at 12:01 AMJan 27, 2010 at 4:34 PM

Both sides claimed victory Wednesday after reaching a deal that will halt hundreds of layoffs of state workers and save state government millions of dollars in the process. But some details still need to be worked out and questions resolved from the agreement over lawsuits between the state's major employees union and Gov. Pat Quinn's administration.

Both sides claimed victory Wednesday after reaching a deal that will halt hundreds of layoffs of state workers and save state government millions of dollars in the process.

But some details still need to be worked out and questions resolved from the agreement over lawsuits between the state's major employees union and Gov. Pat Quinn's administration.

Quinn's office last year announced plans to lay off 2,600 state workers, many in state prisons, as part of a broader effort to cut $1 billion in the midst of a budget crisis. But the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 union sued, tying up the issue until yesterday.

The layoffs will be reduced to about 150 positions, and the union will delay taking half of a scheduled pay increase this year and next year and take voluntary furlough days in exchange.

The deal calls for the state to save more than $200 million, according to Quinn's estimates. David Vaught, director of Quinn's budget office, said $188 million of that comes from everything but layoffs: $41 million in pay cuts, $77 million in voluntary furloughs and $70 million in health insurance savings. Quinn's budget office could not say how much would be saved in addition to that figure from layoffs, saying only the figure will top $200 million.

Kelly Kraft, spokeswoman for Quinn's budget office, also could not provide details for where specifically the 150 positions targeted for layoff will occur. None of those will come from state prisons, and affected workers received notices in 2009, she said.

Vaught noted the union's concession on pay increases was extraordinary.

"AFSCME doesn't give up what's in their contract," he said, adding both sides were interested in reaching a common goal.

AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said some details are unclear because some pieces are not yet in place.

Quinn's office sent layoff notices last fall to workers in state agencies covering economic development, health care, revenue, human services and environmental protection, and the union doesn't know yet whether all of those will still go forward. The layoffs number could climb if planned facility closures such as selling the Thomson prison to the federal government go forward, or it could drop if affected workers use their union rights to bump into other positions, he said.

Lindall said the union is satisfied with the outcome.

"It's a significant achievement for the union to prevent such large-scale layoffs that would have decimated basic services and put so many people out of work," he said.

Local lawmakers agreed the deal was a relief.

"I'm really happy about it since we aren't going to be laying people off," said Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield. He added that the deal avoids political upheaval by pushing off layoff decisions until after the 2010 elections.

Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg, said the deal was good for both sides and preserved a workforce already understaffed.

"We can't afford to keep making those cuts," Brauer said.

Matt Hopf can be reached at matt.hopf@sj-r.com. John Guidroz can be reached at john.guidroz@sj-r.com.

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